Waking Kiss by Annabel Joseph Page B

stack in front of him. “A slip. Forgive me. He does not like when I call him that.”
    “Why? What does it mean?”
    He thought a moment before he rolled to take his turn. “Literally, ishi means ‘human’ or ‘person.’ In another sense it means someone with no name. With no people. No home.”
    I looked around the chandelier-lit dining room. “Liam has a home.”
    Mem inclined his head at me. “Literally—yes, he has a home. But in another sense, he does not. When you know him better, you will understand.”
    If I ever knew him better. I wanted to know him better since Rubio had planted ideas in my head. But now that I’d gotten up the courage to come here, I worried it was a mistake.
    “You are ishi too,” Mem said, interrupting my fretting. “I sensed this right away. You are not like your people, are you?”
    “My people? You mean my family?”
    “Yes.”
    I shook my head, handing over more money. “No, we’re not close.”
    “Do they ever come to see you dance?”
    “London’s a long way from Wyoming.”
    In a change of pace, Mem landed on one of my dinky properties and had to pay me. “It is a sad thing, to lose the home from which you come.”
    “It’s not sad, believe me.”
    We both looked up as Liam appeared at the dining room door, wearing jeans and an obnoxious reindeer-emblazoned sweater.
    “Monopoly?” he asked, staring at Mem. His voice sounded mild but his expression wasn’t.
    Mem inclined his head in that formal way he had. “Ashleigh has come to ask for your help. In the meantime, we were enjoying a board game.”
    I glanced at my aged opponent. “I’m not enjoying it as much as you, since you’re beating me to death.”
    Liam almost smiled. Almost. “Mem’s a board game shark. Never play him for money, trust me. Well…” He spread his arms. “It’s Christmas Eve, Ashleigh. What are you doing here?”
    Mem pushed back his chair. “I’ll make some more tea.”
    “No,” we both said at the same time, but he’d already scooted through the door.
    Liam sat across from me and started cleaning up the Monopoly game. I helped until our fingers got tangled together, then I stopped and let him do it, my hands clasped in my lap.
    “I told Mem not to call you. The thing is— I just— I had a bad day and—”
    “Okay,” he said, cutting me off. “You’re here.”
    “But you want me to go.”
    “I do and I don’t.” He tapped his fingers hard on the tabletop. “Rubio did both of us a favor the other night. Especially you.”
    “I know what you must think, after—”
    “You don’t know what I think, I promise you.” He stacked the money and tucked it in the box with the other pieces of the board game. I handed him the lid and watched him put it on. That done, he pushed it aside and propped his arms on the table.
    I took a deep breath. “Listen, I’m sorry I flipped out the other night at the theater. I’m sorry.”
    “Please stop apologizing. Why are you here? Spit it out.”
    I picked at the corner of the box, choosing my words carefully. “So…that night…Rubio and I had a talk while he walked me home. We talked about you.”
    “Okay,” he said. “And?”
    “It gave me an idea that I can’t stop thinking about. He said…”
    I fell silent as Mem returned with fresh tea and a tray of sugar, cream, and milk.
    “Thank you, Jeeves,” Liam muttered. “Leave it and get out.”
    The old man did as he was told, setting the tray down next to the Monopoly box and disappearing out the door. Neither of us made a move to touch the fragrant, steaming cups.
    “He’s really nice,” I commented in the silence.
    “He’s the most irritating human on the planet.” Liam ground his palms into his eye sockets and then leaned forward and fixed me with his gaze. “Why are you here?” he asked, emphasizing each word.
    “So…in the course of our conversation, Rubio told me you’re really good at having sex. Like really, really good.”
    His lips tightened in